


vulcan philosophy

by Hannah (hannahoftheinternet)



Series: the best friends you can find [4]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, Dominion War (Star Trek), Fate & Destiny, Gen, Philosophy, set just before 6x20 "good shepherd"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 08:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22492996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahoftheinternet/pseuds/Hannah
Summary: Disquieted by reports of The Dominion War, Kathryn seeks solace with a friend.
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway & Tuvok (Star Trek)
Series: the best friends you can find [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1170533
Comments: 10
Kudos: 14





	vulcan philosophy

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for not updating this series in over a year. Rest assured I'll be working much more from now on.

Kathryn’s ready room door chirped loudly, drawing a wince from her. She had to remember to turn down its volume at some point. Rousing herself from her PADD, she looked up and said, “Come in.” Having not been used in several hours, her voice came out as a croak. She cleared her throat harshly and tried again. “Come in.”

The door hissed open, revealing Tuvok standing in the doorway. He took a few steps past the threshold, then paused, uncharacteristically hesitant.

“What is it?” she prompted.

“I find myself requiring… companionship,” said her friend, after a particularly long pause. “My quarters have seemed very lonely of late.”

Kathryn looked down at the Starfleet update she had been reading. The reports had been mind-numbingly dull, save for the long articles detailing battles and treaties. As much as those documents captured her attention, the death counts prevented her from really engaging with that she read. “Well, your loneliness just saved me from a few more terraquads of Starfleet reports, at least for now. They got up to a lot while we were away. Have you read the reports? They won a war last year.” She motioned for Tuvok to sit on the sofa. To her surprise, he sat, and she rose to join him.

Tuvok nodded sagely as she lowered herself to the plush gray-green couch. “The Dominion War. The file on the invasion of Cardassia was particularly fascinating.”

Laughing dryly, she leaned her head back, cracking the vertebrae at the top of her spine. She had been leaning over for far too long. Any longer and she would develop a hunch. “If by  _ fascinating _ , you mean  _ horribly morbid _ .”

“That was not the meaning I intended,” Tuvok said, “but I agree with the sentiment.”

She sighed heavily, releasing tension from her body, pulling fresh air into her lungs--as fresh as filtered air could be on a starship. “Oh, Tuvok, we shouldn’t be here. We should be there, in the Alpha Quadrant, helping with the war relief. We should have been there to fight.”

“If I may speak freely, Captain,” Tuvok began, looking expectantly to her. She nodded, massaging her temples. “While I understand your distress--I have also experienced the same thoughts--I must inform you that this line of thinking will do nothing to improve your mental state.”

She looked over at him; his face was as sincere as a Vulcan’s could be. “I didn’t think that you thought about  _ what ifs _ .”

“I find,” he said, “that considering alternate possibilities can be helpful in the decision-making process. However, it is my belief that in this scenario, agonizing over  _ what ifs _ is not a fruitful exercise. Although we are here and not there, it is likely that  _ Voyager _ will be invaluable upon our return to the Alpha Quadrant. We have gathered information regarding hundreds of species and new technologies. Perhaps just as others are meant to be there, we are meant to be here.”

She laughed softly, her friend’s words taking a weight off her shoulders. She wasn’t a spiritual woman, but maybe she could believe that the universe had led her to where she was supposed to be. “Do Vulcans believe in fate?”

“We do not,” he replied, “but we recognize that others take comfort in it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are a writer's best friend!


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